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McHenry County Board District 2 candidate Gloria Van Hof answered Shaw Local’s election questionnaire for the McHenry County Board primary election.
Voting ends for the primary election on the evening of June 28.
Full Name: Gloria Van Hof
What office are you seeking? County Board District 2
What offices, if any, have you previously held? Village of Hebron Planning Commission
McHenry County Merit Commissioner
City: CRYSTAL LAKE
Occupation: Retired Associate Director/Licensed Administrator-- Riverside Foundation, Long-term Care Facility
Education: Master of Arts, Clinical Psychology Roosevelt University, 2007
Bachelor of Arts, English/Psychology Columbia College Missouri, 1995
Associate of Science, General Education McHenry County College, 1992
Associate of Applied Science, Industrial Engineering McHenry County College, 1983
Campaign Website: https://citizensforgloriavanhof.com/
What would be your top three priorities?
1. Affordable housing
2. Increased transparency in all departments of county government
3. Improved highways, transit systems and public transportation
Taxes are a top concern raised by voters locally. What do you do within your position to address residents’ tax burden?
1. Educate constituents about how the taxing system works in Illinois
2. Provide information on how constituents can lower their property taxes (by filing a protest) or claim tax credits such as the Senior Citizen’s Homestead Exemption (enacted in 2013)
3. Promote my view of attracting more business to the county which will lower the tax burden for families. This can be achieved through improved infrastructure, increased access to public education, and increase trained workforce through educational partnerships with other agencies such as high school and college preparation courses
4. Work with State legislatures and constituents to either modify or replace Illinois’ flat tax rate and implement a more progressive tax structure which will provide more services and reduce economic inequalities by ensuring that the wealthiest Americans pay the highest tax rate.
Voters also cited crime as a concern. What do you think needs to be done to address this concern?
Personally, I think that McHenry County is a much safer place to live than the bordering counties of Boone, DeKalb, Kane, Cook and Lake, and according to existing analysis from FBI crime data, that is a correct assumption. The Neighborhood Scout’s analysis of FBI crime data concluded that “McHenry is safer than the majority of cities, towns, and villages in America (65%) and also has a lower crime rate than 56% of the communities in Illinois.”
I would share the above facts with voters and also address their concerns by listening to their particular complaints and then exploring what steps we can take to make the county even safer than it already is. I would take a deeper look at the crimes that are occurring in the county and work with other board members to address the root causes of those crime (homelessness, unemployment, mental health issues, etc.).
How would you encourage economic and employment growth within McHenry County?
1. Apply for grants/loans through the federally sponsored Community Development Block Grant programs. CDAP (Community Development Assistance Program) is a program that I had in-depth experience with while serving on the Planning Commission in Hebron. The program awarded loans to Illinois communities with populations of 50,000 or less (in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Madison, St. Clair and Will). The low interest loans are then re-loaned at a higher rate to new and existing companies for business development, employee salaries, machinery and infrastructure improvement. In Hebron, we were successful in attracting new businesses and providing assistance to existing businesses that were struggling to pay for equipment and recruitment of employees.
2. Continue to partner with schools and colleges to prepare students with the education and/or skills they will need to obtain employment.
3. Increase access to public transportation so that individuals who do not drive or cannot afford an automobile can have affordable options for getting to and from work.
4. Improve infrastructure and highways to address bottlenecks and allow for easier commutes from home to work and vice versa.
Do you think McHenry County should continue to challenge the new state law that prohibits its contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement? Why or why not?
No. I think the decision to end the contract with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was a good decision.
While this had become a partisan issue on the McHenry County Board, I do not believe that the continuation of ICE was a practice that McHenry County constituents support. This is a human rights issue, and our current County Board which consists of 16 Republican and 8 Democrats, turned it into a partisan issue by voting to maintain a system that valued money more than it did human dignity.
Sixteen County Board members rallied to keep a system in place that detained many individuals who had not broken any laws. This was particularly troubling during COVID19 where innocent detainees were housed in congregate living areas where the likelihood of contracting a life threatening disease was increased.
What is the County Board’s role in addressing audit issues at the McHenry County Regional Office of Education?
The County Board’s role is to provide oversight, offer guidance and address any errors or irregularities that may be disclosed in the annual audit on a timely basis. The county proved negligent in its role of all of the above. Both the Superintendent of the ROE and the County ignored irregularities and recommendations cited by auditors six years in a row. When 27 irregularities were revealed in the July 2021 audit, the County responded by pointing fingers and terminating the Regional Superintendent and blaming her for the mess.
What road and bridge infrastructure needs to be addressed in McHenry County?
The two most troublesome areas are Northwest Highway (Route 14) between Route 22 in Fox River Grove to 176 in Crystal Lake. Since there is only one way to get over the Fox without going too far south or too far north, commuting from Crystal Lake to the east presents a major problem. This is especially burdensome during road and bridge construction on Route 14 between Cary and Fox River Grove.
Route 47 between Woodstock and Huntley is also an issue.
What are the top issues facing Valley Hi Nursing Home and how should the County Board help address them?
The top issues facing Valley Hi are:
1. Difficulty attracting and retaining qualified staff
2. Decreased admissions
3. Failure to follow IDPH and CDC guidelines during COVID-19 pandemic
4. Poor planning for expansion, i.e. memory care unit
Having worked in long-term care for the past 18 years in positions as a case manager, Director of Human Resources and as Associate Director/Administrator (during the COVID-19 crisis), I am acutely aware of the challenges in recruitment and retention of qualified staff for most long-term care facilities. These challenges became even more pronounced with the onset of COVID-19. I took a proactive role by implementing the following strategies to protect residents and staff and also to a feeling of safety and trust among employees, residents and family members:
- Conducted interviews offsite,
- Required a Negative test result from all new hires within 5 days of their hire date,
- Implemented masking and distancing guidelines before it was mandated by IDPH for the ICF-DD,
- Conducted weekly facility-wide testing of residents and staff before it was mandated by IDPH for the ICF-DD,
- Reported the amount, department and shift of all Positive cases to employees and guardians as soon as test results were received from an independent lab,
- Required that all employees disclose other jobs and then called each secondary job on a weekly basis to check for COVID-19 outbreaks which allowed us to quarantine possible exposed employees for 14 days, and conduct internal contact tracing if positive cases were identified,
- Used proceeds from a PPP grant to provide hazard pay to all staff who worked to cover shortages.
The County Board may address these issues by:
1. Increase the pay for direct care workers, offering hiring bonuses when applicable, reviewing benefit packages, implementing programs to boost morale and teamwork, recognizing and rewarding outstanding performance
2. Ensure that the McHenry County Department of Health adheres to IDPH and CDC guidelines to create a safer environment for residents and staff.
3. Require that MCDH partners with Valley Hi to provide training (such as Vaccine Hesitancy training) and onsite vaccine labs for staff and employees.
4. Require that MCDH provides more transparency in the future regarding disease statistics. For instance, during the high transmission months of COVID-19, Lake County Health Department used a 7-Day Rolling Average to provide a daily Positivity Rate which was posted on their website. Lake County’s website is user friendly and fully transparent, unlike McHenry County’s. The site was difficult to navigate and was posting its 7-Day Rolling Average only one day a week.
5. Set the tone for the attention to and the seriousness of enforcement policies regarding infection hygiene, masking and proper distancing recommendations in long-term care facilities and in businesses. In several instances, such recommendations were ignored and violators were not penalized. If the McHenry County Health Department had taken a more proactive role in enforcing IDPH requirements, Valley Hi could have avoided fines and deaths that were caused from poor infection control such as allowing residents who tested positive to remain in the same room with residents who tested negative. At the long-term care facility where I was Administrator, I met with the Team (including the Director of Nursing, Resident Services Director, Director of Social Services, Food Services Director and Environmental Services Director) and together we devised an Plan to care for residents who tested positive and protect resident who tested negative by allocating several rooms for isolation purposes. Our DON provided guidance regarding cohorts for clients who tested positive, the length of isolation required and recommended personal protective requirements for nurses and direct care staff. I believe this approach saved lives.
6. Halt the plan to expand and add a memory care unit until the skilled care division has addressed its current issues.
Assess the McHenry County Department of Health’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. What changes, if any, need to be made related to the pandemic or any future response?
The McHenry County Department of Health’s response to COVID-19 was poor. It may be improved by the MCDH taking a leadership role and asking the County for its support of enforcement of laws and funding of strategies that will help the Department to educate constituents, increase transparency and provide products and services needed.
If you could reverse one decision made by the County Board last year, what would it be?
I would reverse the Board’s approval to change the structure of the County Board from (6) four-member districts to (9) two-member districts. This decision will increase the already heavy workload of board members and attract fewer qualified individuals who may not be able to serve on the board due to their full-time job requirements.
Lake County pays its 21 board members $43,000/year as opposed to McHenry County’s $21,000 compensation. By increasing the workload and failing to pay members a living wage, the McHenry County Board may become disproportionally populated with individuals who are either financially secure, business owners who have flexible schedules or retired persons with pensions. I believe the citizens of McHenry County will be better served by members who more accurately represent them.
Do you think there is a local crime problem? If so, what needs to be done about it?
As I noted in Question 13, I do not agree that crime is a major problem in McHenry County. Our local and county officers are respected and supported by the community and we have been successful in attracting officers from surrounding counties because our communities are safer and the starting wage is more attractive than some of our neighboring counties.
Illegal opiate use has caused an increase in crime and this can be dealt with by partnering with agencies that address substance abuse and investing in rehabilitative services. Recently the County approved a $980,000 grant to New Directions Addiction Recovery Services to construct a 12-bed facility for individuals who have successfully completed their sobriety plan.
What local road and bridge projects should be a priority to get done in the county?
As noted in Question 17, Route 14, between Cary and Fox River Grove needs an alternate bridge or bypass.
Do you support decreasing local property taxes? If so, how would the county make up the difference?
Yes, I support decreasing local property taxes and I believe we can lower the taxes in McHenry County by attracting business and manufacturing and also by studying what other counties in the State have done to maintain a lower tax rate.
Do you support stronger county government ethics laws? What measures do you support?
Yes, I support strong government ethics laws. Full disclosures and possible conflicts of interests should be required from all board members as the County Board should not be used by members to promote their personal and professional agendas.
What are your thoughts on the Illinois Freedom of Information Act?
The Freedom of Information Act is an essential component of good government that allows individuals and news entities easy access to government documents, records, public meeting minutes, budget appropriations and any and all dealings except for items such as salary negotiations and pending litigation.
Please state your plan to maintain government transparency.
My plan is simple in that I would encourage the Board to provide as much information as possible on all issues and improve electronic access to that information by employing user friendly systems.
What would you push for as a member of county government to boost local businesses?
As a board member of the County, I would be a duly charged ambassador for the County. I would promote McHenry County as a wonderful place to live and a great place to build a business and I would personally look for financial incentives to entice businesses to come to McHenry County.
Should government employees and officials be allowed to sign non-disclosure agreements with private businesses?
Yes.
Would you push for or against government officials and employees being allowed to sign nondisclosure agreements with private businesses?
I don’t have a dog in this fight; however, after working in manufacturing for 18 years (five years in electronics and 13 years in high pressure hydraulics) I realize that nondisclosure agreements are necessary to protect intellectual properties, patents and processes that ensure a company’s success and profitability.